Desk accessory



6. RPM.

DESK ACCESSORY. APPLICATION FILED 050.22. 1920.

1 5410,668. Patented Mar. 28, 1922.

Wal a 6.5.9-

PATENT GEORGE E. FOX, OF CHICAGO, ILLISN'OIS...

DESK econssonv.

' Specification of Letters Patent,

Patented- Mar. 28, 197273.

Application filed December 22, 1920. Serial No. 432,438.

To all 10/1 am it may concern Be it known that I, GEORGE E. Fox, acitizen of the United States, residin. at Chicago, in the county of Cookand tate of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in DeskAccessories, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates in general to ofiice equipment, and moreparticularly to an article designed primarily for desk use, but alsoadapted to be used as a portable file, which can be folded up-andreadily transported with the work contained therein One of the primarypurposes of this invention is to provide an article which will beadapted to lie flat upon a desk surface and-afford a work space coveredby ablotter so that this portion of 'the article performs the functionof a blotter pad, or, if preferred. it may have a glass surface, beneathwhich desired data maybe inserted and retained, exposed to view, andwhich will'also affordupon either side'of-the work space a workdistributor "in which correspondence and other papers and desk work maybe filed so that they are readily accessible, but at the same time,concealed from the view of visitors, "customers or clients, The workspace-on body portion and the distributors are hinged together and soproportioned that the distributors may be folded over uponthe bodyportion, thereby enclosing between them the work in the distributors andthatlying on the body\ portionfand providing a convenient file which maybe picked up from the desk and car ried bodily with the work therein toa vault, another desk, or any place to which it may be desirable toconvey the file and the data contained therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide a desk accessory of thecharacter indicaterl. which will be convenient for the user, and will beattractive in appearance and durable in use.

Qther objects and advantages of the invention will be readilyappreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to thefollowing description, when considered in connection with theaccompanyinr drawings. I

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1,. is a plan view of an article embodying my invention when openedout and laid flat on a desk in working position;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the article shown in Fig. 1 with thedistributors folded over into closed position for transport;

Fig. 3 is a sectional viewon the line of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4c is a fragmentary enlarged view of one of the index card holderson a distributor leaf; and Y i Fig. 5 is a sectional view on. the line5-5 of Fig. 4. y

' Referring now to the drawingsmore in detail, reference character 6indicates generally the-body portion of the article which is shaped andproportioned to approximately the size of a standard desk blotter pad.This portion comprises a ply 7 of stiff material. such asheavycardboard, to the rearor bottom face of which is secured a ply 8 ofleather, pantasote, or other durable and attractive material, anduponthe outer face of thisply is secured facing ply 9 of felt,presenting a soft surfacc'which will notmar-the desk upon which thearticle is placed. 1 The upper face of this central portion. is alsocovered with a plyof material 11, preferably similar to the ply 8. andat each corner, there islprovided a triangular tab ll-forming a pocket,beneath which the corners of a blotter 13 may be inserted, thusproviding a desirable working surface, capable .ofperforming thefunction of a desk blotter. If preferred, however, a glass plate may beemployed in lieu of a blotter, thus providing also a desirable workingsurface and serving to retain in position cards orsheets bearing data,which are exposed to view through the glass where they "may be quicklyread at any time by the user.

At each side of the body portion, there is disposed a work distributor,indicated gen- .erally by reference character 13. Each distribute]?comprises aply 14- of still material, similar to the ply 7, and theplies 8 and 11 are continued over the faces of the distributor plies14,.thus covering the same, and forming at 15 a flexible hingeeonnection between the distributors and the body portion. I

Each distributor comprises a series of leaves 16, hinged at their upperends at different points to the stiff ply 14, as indicated at 17, sothat the lower end of each is exposed beneath the next overlying leaf.These distributor leaves are adapted to receive between themcorrespondence or papers and other desk work, which the user may desireto have in convenient position, but in classified relation.

For the purpose of indexing these leaves to facilitate temporary filingof tlfe correspondence and other work in the distributors, each leaf isrovided at its'lower end with an index card holder, comprising a stripof relatively stiff sheet metal 18, folded over the lower edge of thesheet, the ends of the metal being bent back upon themselves,as-indioated at 19 and 21, to retain a sheet of celluloid or othertransparent material 22, the ends of which are engaged be heath thefolded ends 19 and 21 of the metal. From Fig; 5; it will be observedthat the length of the transparent sheet is such that the forward orexposed portion thereof is disposed in spaced relation to the underlyingmetal, providing a slot or recess 23 into which a paper index card maybe slipped longitudinally and held in exposed position, where it may bereadily observed. When in use on adeslrg the article is laid oat flat,as illustrated in F i'g. 1', leaving the body portion exposed, asaiworkingsurfaoe, and the two distributors is! oomrement position ateither side of the 'workihgsurface to hold correspondenceimd-otheruiattet which may be pieced therein." fiioiild-the user dositeto leave his work withoizt havin exposed to view, the distributed! mb'ysimply folded over ontothe body portion, has shown iii-Fig. 2, thusenblosing not only the work contained in the distributors themselves,but also that'ly-i on the'worli'ing sarfso'e. -Furthermoce-, w thearticle is closed up in this manner, it may be readily carried ml, orfrom place to place, wherever the use! may desire, and the workcontained therein is protected, and when the device is opened oat again,the work is exposed in oonvehiontposition to the user. a

While I have shown and desrxibed a preferred embodiment of my invention,it will be apparent that it is capable of considerable modification inits details of construction, and that in some instances, instead ofemplaying two distributors, one only may be attached to the bodyportion, which may be proportioned so as to be covered by the singledistributor when folded over, or a portion ofthe working surface may beleft exposed, when the device is closed up, depending' uponthe relativesize and proportions of the parts.

I- claim:

1. A desk accessory, comprising a central body portion and side portionshinged to opposite side edges of said central portion, all of saidportions whenopen being adaptedto lie flat upona desk and provide a flatcentral work surface flanked by said side portions, eaoh side portionbeing provided with leaves hingedly attached at their upper ends totheir respective side portions to provide workat' each side of said worksurface for the temporary recepbi'on of? ofiioe 'mrk said side portionswith the distribfltors thereon being adapted to be folded oeer onto'aeid central portion to enclose work disposed on said work surface orin said distributors A'desk accessory comprising a flat body adapted toprovide a-work surface, and work distributors hingedto opposite sideedges of-Asaid'body and-adapted when open to lie flat aspen adesk,-reaeh' of said distributors comprisinga flat relatively inflexiblebacking hingedlyconnected to the body portion, each backing beingsubstantially one-half the width of said body portion, and leavesattached at the upper edge of each backing so as to open'apvmrdly awayfrom the user of the device, said leaves being adapted to receivebetween them work which is to be temporarily filed; said distributorsbeing adaptdd to be folded-over-onto said central portion to therebyenclose the work in said distributors.

GEORGE E. FOX.

